Directed by Mike Flanagan | Written by Flanagan, from a Stephen King short story | 111 min | ▲▲▲ | Amazon Prime
A version of this review first appeared on FITI in September 2024 as part of coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Filmmaker Mike Flanagan brings to the big screen his third Stephen King story after Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep — like Rob Reiner and Frank Darabont before him, he’s devoting a chunk of his directorial career to adapting the wildly popular novelist’s work. The Life Of Chuck lies somewhere between the supernatural horror that King built his career on and the more slice-of-life dramas away from the screams, like Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption.
While it’s technically a science fiction, it’s really a biopic of sorts, the story of accountant Chuck Krantz told in three chapters in reverse order. Chapter Three barely involves him at all. How’s that? I hear you ask. The most compelling part of The Life of Chuck is its structure and how it gets a message across — this is a film about appreciating the small, fleeting moments in life. The least compelling part is a painful voiceover from the otherwise reliable Nick Offerman, leaning toward the sermonizing and saccharine.
In the months since I’ve seen this picture, it hasn’t aged well in my mind, possibly soured by the film having earned the TIFF People’s Choice Award over many more deserving films. Interesting that the producers chose a summer release date rather than taking advantage of the Oscar-bump that the award usually provides — see similar middlebrow award-winners from TIFF like Chariots of Fire, The King’s Speech, and Green Book.
But that’s not to say The Life of Chuck isn’t worth seeing, largely due to a soft touch in the performances. It mostly concerns a recently divorced couple — Chiwetel Ejiofor reminding us of his incredible warmth on screen, and Karen Gillan freeing herself from Nebula’s black eyes — dealing with the sudden, if somewhat suburban and quiet, end of the world. It goes with a whimper, not a bang.
As we step back in time the whys of the story slowly start to make sense, and we discover Chuck (played at different ages by Benjamin Pajak, the teenaged Jacob Tremblay, and Tom Hiddleston) is a terrific dancer. Hiddleston’s mid-movie dance number is probably worth the price of admission.
Welcome here are the echoes of 1980s Amblin entertainments, as well as the distinct nods to Back To The Future and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — good to see you back in the spotlight, Mia Sara. The rest of the cast acquit themselves very well, including Mark Hamill, Q’orianka Kilcher, David Dastmalchian, and Carl Lumbly.
The Life Of Chuck leaves unanswered a few questions it raises, though that’s to its credit. Ambiguity isn’t what movies like this one trade in, so a light applause for storytelling risk-taking is due. Some will criticize its schmaltzy heart, and I get that, but there’s room in a lot of people’s cinematic diet for what this is offering, maybe even yours.
